Marathon Ready

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This morning was a 19 mile run and I ran it (with Chris and Wayne) at almost race pace. This is giving me some much needed mental confidence. I'm trained enough right now that I can run a marathon in under four hours--physically. I'm still uneasy about the mental part of the race. It's so tempting to want to quit and start walking as we edge toward mile 20. Our longest training runs will only be 21 miles so there's really no way to prepare for the mental aspect of pushing myself through those final miles. I'm counting on the pace group I've signed up for in Richmond to pull me through--hoping I'll have the mental energy to stick with the group to the end.

There's also the matter of warding off injury. I've been fortunate this year to not have a single injury. Aches and pains, sure. But nothing that has sidelined me. 

I keep reminding myself that even though I'm bucking for under 4 hours, marathon day is such a crapshoot. Weather, digestive track, last-minute injuries, a cold, a bad running day--you can't know what you'll be dealing with until the day off. However, for the moment I'm comforted that I feel STRONG even after today's run. Almost no back pain, minimal stiffness... I feel like a "real" runner.

For all the getting up early and sweating and pain and half the day spent away from home, I love my Sunday morning runs with the group. I leave the group each Sunday feeling like I've done something with my day. And good or bad run, there's a huge feeling of accomplishment at just having finsihed it.

Race day is close. One month of training left. I'm starting to get excited...

My First Ice Bath

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This morning after our run, Marisa had some homework for us.

"Everyone go home and ice," she instructed. "I don't care if nothing hurts. Pick an area and ice it. It helps."

Ice is the miracle cure. I've iced before with success (see the infamous "ass peas" incident) but have never taken an ice-bath. Since nothing in particular was hurting me after this run, I decided to literally take the plunge and ice everything.

I arrived home and found Blair. "I need your help," I said. "I want to take an ice-bath."

"Do you need me to get you some ice?" he asked.

"No, I'm thinking I'll more likely need you to hold me down and force me to stay in it."

He declined to help (coward), so I was on my own. We have a claw-foot cast-iron tub that I filled 1/4 full with cold water. Only the water wasn't super cold--probably closer to room temperature. But it dropped a few degrees when I added a bucketful of ice.

I put my feet in the water and sucked in air. Cold. When I knealt in the water, I actually screamed. And kept screaming as I lowered myself to sit in the tub. It took a full minute of deep breathing before I could ease my shoulder blades to rest against the back of the tub. Blair sat downstairs ignoring the yelps coming from the upstairs bathroom. 

Once I was "in" it wasn't so bad. I managed to stay in for about 6-8 minutes and soak my legs and lower back. Did it do any good? Who knows. I probably didn't stay in long enough for it to have any affect.

On the bright side, we did 17 miles today and my back didn't hurt once! I attribute this to my ab work, but Blair wants it noted that another variable in my routine is the dinner he fixed last night and perhaps it was his "magic spaghetti" that did the trick.

Sure, honey. Whatever works.

30K: The After

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Killed it. K-I-L-L-E-D it. Very pleased. Turned in a 2:48:17 time (by my watch-formal results not yet posted), which is about 9 minutes faster than last year's time. Plus--and this is huge--I was in such better shape after the race this year as compared to last year. Last year (as longtime readers might recall) was the infamous "Drink orange soda and lived to regret it" day. I also cramped up after the race last year and lay in the car moaning on the way home. This year, I walked around after the race, got some nutrition (1/2 an orange, 1/2 a banana, 1/4 of a monster bagel, and 2 Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts--Yeah. I can eat) and managed to drive myself home with no incident. Blair had gum surgery yesterday and decided, understandably, to stay home.

I couldn't have asked for a better race day. Sunny, with temps still at 68 degrees by noon. I ran the race with my friend Dave, my Wednesday morning trail running partner. Dave had a rough run, with the arthritis in his knee giving him major grief, but he hung with me the entire way for which I am eternally grateful. Very helpful to pace with someone.

My pace averaged a 9:03/mile. I need to hold a 9:09 to run a four-hour marathon. Can I hold the pace another 6+ miles? I'm not sure. The biggest problem is my back. Come about mile 14, it just aches non-stop, like someone is using a crowbar in an attempt to remove my lower spine. Makes me want to stop and curl into the fetal position. I've vowed to devote the next 6 weeks to abdominal work, in the hopes of easing the pain in Richmond.

Legs and breath did okay. Better than okay--great, actually. But here's the tough part about running. I felt good today, and never came near the "I've got to stop, I can't go on" place. Yet with every step my mind says, "Quit, quit, quit. Stop, stop, stop." Even when strong, I want to stop because... it would feel better. The trick is to distract the mind and hope the miles slide by unnoticed.

Everyone in my group appears to have had a great run, with several people PR'ing (Personal Records). It's a relief to know I made my goal today, and comforting to think I still have 6 weeks of training to get even stronger before my race. 

BTW, the photo here is my PACE TATTOO. Temporary tattoo that allows me to make sure I'm on pace, Why is this necessary? Because I lose the ability to do simple math after about mile 4.

This has been your annual weekend running update. =)